How Lupin Changed History
by Bottlebrush
Summary: What made Lily start to see James more favourably? And what did Remus Lupin have to do with it? Find out here. Hints of JPLE and SBRL.


Lupin Changes History

Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter world or its characters. J. K. Rowling does.

What made Lily start to see James more favourably? And what did Remus Lupin have to do with it? Find out here. Hints of JPLE and SBRL.

Rating: K+

Things were happening too fast for Remus Lupin. First there was the worst transformation he had ever had, when he woke bleeding and sore from the most frenzied attack the wolf had yet made on him. Then the incomprehension when Sirius had admitted to trying to make Remus's worst nightmare come true. Remus had scarcely finished dealing with that when Sirius was kissing him, declaring love for him, making his dearest, never-spoken wish come true instead. Remus lived the next few days in a delirium of joy, and then with a hint of sobriety came the knowledge that there was still unfinished business. There was a debt to be paid: James.

Remus knew well enough that James's heroic action had been done to save Sirius's skin; the benefits to Snape and to Remus had been incidental. Nevertheless, James _had_ saved Remus; without James, the worst thing Remus could imagine would have happened. So Remus owed him, big time. It was a debt that could never fully be repaid; but there must be something he could do. Some small thing.

"Lily? Have you got a minute?" Lily was working at a table in a corner of the library when Remus approached her.

"What do you want?" she asked.

That was unpromising, but Remus persisted.

"Just a quick word."

"Well, make it snappy, I've got a lot of homework."

Remus looked over her shoulder at the star chart she was working on.

"You've got those two the wrong way round," he pointed out. "That one's Alnilam. Alnitak is the other one."

"Thanks," she said grudgingly. "So, get on with it."

"It's about James."

"What about that prat?"

"He really likes you. And I know you really like him, so –"

"If it was any of your damn business, which it isn't, I'd explain how you couldn't be

more wrong. So bugger off, will you, and take your delusions with you."

"Just hear me out, _please._ There's something you ought to know, about James. But it means me having to tell you something about me, too ……" His voice trailed off. Lily laughed at his anxious face.

"If you're going to tell me you're gay and you've got the hots for Sirius, don't bother. If there's anyone in Hogwarts who doesn't know that already, they must be even stupider than you."

Remus went slightly red, but his expression was so serious that Lily was silenced, and listened to what he had to say.

He told her nearly everything: about the wolf, about Sirius's trick on Snape, about James's rescue. He didn't tell her about the animagi.

When he had finished, Lily said "That must have been terrible for you, when you realised what nearly happened."

"Er, yes," said Remus, "but that's not the point. The point is, what an incredibly brave thing James did."

"I think it's a very brave thing _you_ did, telling me this," she said. "How do you know I won't go telling everyone in school you're a werewolf?"

"I don't _know,_ but I don't think you will. You're not that sort of person."

"No," she said gently, "I'm not. I won't tell anyone. And I'm sorry for what I said earlier, about you being stupid. I didn't mean it."

"Oh, I know I'm a lousy prefect."

"No you're not. You're very good with the first-years, helping them find their way around the castle. Most of us haven't got the patience. And I don't know how you do it, but you manage to stop any fighting in the corridors before it gets started. It's only – those three – you don't seem to have any control over _them_ at all."

"I know. It's complicated. They know about me, you see, and they're still my friends. I can't – well, anyway, I didn't come to talk about me. I wanted you to know about James."

"I see that. But you do understand, don't you, what James did, he did it for his precious Sirius, not for Severus."

"Yes," Remus admitted. "But whatever the reason, he did save Severus's life. And mine, probably. And he could have got himself killed. Don't you see what a very courageous and good person that makes him?"

Lily laughed. "Good …… I wouldn't go quite that far. But there's more to him than I realised, yes."

"Then – perhaps you'd consider – oh, just going to Hogsmeade with him next weekend?"

She smiled. "Perhaps. Now will you go and let me get on with my work?"

_That went pretty well, _Remus thought. Now he had only to persuade James to try asking Lily out, one more time. And maybe a small part of the debt would be paid.


End file.
